Close your eyes. And imagine war: the sounds, the images that do not fade, the stories that stay with you. Then open them again and try to answer a question that only appears simple: if you had to leave your home suddenly, with just one suitcase, what would you take with you?
This is where AVSI’s new video begins, filmed in southern Lebanon, between Qlayaa and Khiam, in Beirut and in Mount Lebanon in 2025 and 2026. A narrative that weaves together the voices of those who were forced to flee and those who, instead, chose to stay, continuing to live and work amid the war.
Watch the video
Among the stories in the video, there are those of people like Mayssa, who chooses to stay in order to remain close to families and children, and stories like Marwa’s, who was forced to flee multiple times, losing everything.
In a context marked by violence, displacement, and uncertainty, AVSI workers continue to search for families, rebuild relationships, and understand their needs. At the center are always children: their fear, but also their ability to still imagine the future.
And in the end, in the suitcase, there is room for simple, meaningful objects. A testimony that a place for waiting and possibility still exists.
Credits
- Subject and texts: Riccardo Pieretti
- Images, interviews, and editing: Aldo Gianfrate
- Voices: Riccardo Pieretti, Diana Bettoja
- Based on testimonies collected in Lebanon between October 2025 and March 2026
- Drawings made by children involved in AVSI’s emergency response activities in shelters in Lebanon
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